Too much milk making baby cry...ideas & help please

For the past 2 weeks my daughter (almost 13 weeks old) has been crying
at my right breast. (I've posted about it before.) Today just to
switch things up, she's decided to cry at my left!

I think what I have is a semi-mild case of a combination of overactive
letdown and too much milk. I didn't think that was the case because my
milk never "sprays" when my nipple isn't in her mouth (suggestions like
catch the excess milk in a towel won't work for me, as the milk only
comes out when my nipple is in her mouth or in a pump).

This crying doesn't happen every time, but it does happen 2 or 3 times a
day, and it's upsetting. What specifically happens is, DD will be
nursing and will all of a sudden start looking upset like she can't keep
up with the milk...she'll pull off and cry and a lot of milk will be all
over her face and falling out of her mouth. I go through many sleepers
and bibs a day...if I'm not careful she ends up soaking wet after each
feed. She also spits up a lot now...I think because too much milk is
hitting her stomach too fast, and the gulping and crying is making her
swallow air.

This problem coincided with DD sleeping through the night without
feeding. She now goes a good 8 hour period at night without nursing
(she wakes up 1-2 times but only needs to be resettled, not nursed) and
so I wake up in the morning with a lot of milk.

Pumping in the morning is a help, but I really don't need much of a
freezer supply (I have a small one for the once a week or so we go out
without her) and I can not imagine throwing the milk out! Plus, doesn't
pumping just encourage my body to make more milk?

I need some ideas on what specifically I can do to fix this problem.
Any and all ideas are welcome and appreciated. My next step will be
going to a LC, but this is a bad time of year for me to have to shell
out the fee for that (but of course I will if needed).

Can't wait for a nice, peaceful nursing with DD!
Kathy

In article ,
(Kathy) wrote:

I need some ideas on what specifically I can do to fix this problem.
Any and all ideas are welcome and appreciated. My next step will be
going to a LC, but this is a bad time of year for me to have to shell
out the fee for that (but of course I will if needed).

It think you are right about the powerful let-down/oversupply. You may be
doing this already, though -- only bf from one side each feed.

A towel under your breast will come in handy when she pulls off, and is more
absorbent than a bib.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

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